NHL legend Claude Lemieux was thinking about a career change shortly before his death by suicide on Thursday, May 28.
“Still struggling so much with Claude Lemieux’s death,” NHL insider Pierre LeBrun shared via X on Sunday, May 31. “He was someone I talked [with] about the game and the business of the game. I loved our conversations because I learned so much. Over the past year he had mentioned to me his desire maybe to run a team one day. He would have been a great GM.”
LeBrun added, “He actually talked to me about throwing his hat in the Maple Leafs opening. He didn’t.”
The Maple Leafs announced the hiring of their new general manager, John Chayka, on May 4.
After his 21-season NHL playing career came to an end in 2009, Lemieux transitioned into a career as a successful sports agent, representing some of the biggest names in professional hockey.
“I talked to him just a few weeks ago,” LeBrun said. “I was so happy for him he carried the torch in Montreal before Game 3. I’m still in shock. Still coming to grips with it.”
Lemieux acted as torch bearer for the Montreal Canadiens before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes on May 25.
Three days later, one of Lemieux’s sons found his father’s body in the warehouse of a furniture store the family owned in Florida. The Palm Beach Medical Examiner confirmed to Us Weekly on Thursday that Lemieux died by suicide. He was 60.
Claude is survived by his wife, Deborah, his sons, Brendan, Christopher and Michael, and his daughter, Claudia. It is not known which of Claude’s three sons found his body.
In a statement released by the Lemieux family on Saturday, May 30, Claude was remembered as “a beloved son, husband, father, grandfather, brother, friend and teammate.”
“To the hockey world, he was one of the game’s most unforgettable competitors: a four-time Stanley Cup champion, a Conn Smythe Trophy winner, and one of the great playoff performers of all time,” the statement read. “To his family, he was more than a hero: he was loving, loyal, funny, protective and generous. He was stubborn, and he was completely devoted to the people he loved. He was adored by his family in turn.”
The Lemieux family revealed that Claude’s brain would be donated to the UNITE Brain Bank at the Boston University CTE Center “for research into the long-term effects of repetitive head impacts and traumatic brain injury.”
